Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

al-Aqsa Mosque

Lord McInnes of Kilwinning: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the governments of (1) Israel, and (2) Jordan, regarding access to the Al-Aqsa mosque for Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank during Ramadan.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK recognises that Jerusalem's holy sites hold particular significance for all Christians, Jews and Muslims around the world. The UK is committed to working with all parties to maintain calm, avoid provocation and uphold the status quo to ensure the safety and the security of the Al Aqsa Mosque and all who worship there. I [Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon] emphasised the UK's unwavering support for Jordanian custodianship of the holy sites in East Jerusalem during my visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque on 12 January. The Foreign Secretary and I reaffirmed this in our meetings with Jordanian Foreign Minister Safadi on 22 March. British Embassy Tel Aviv also raises the matter of permits for Palestinians regularly as we approach Ramadan and Easter.

Windsor Framework

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what progressthey havemade on refining the specification of goods defined as "at risk" under the Windsor Framework; and what further discussions, if any, they are having on that definition.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Windsor Framework significantly expands the number of businesses able to be classed as internal UK traders and move goods as 'not at risk' of entering the EU through three important changes:· First, businesses throughout the United Kingdom will now be eligible on a permanent basis.· Secondly, we have quadrupled the turnover threshold below which companies involved in processing can move goods under the scheme which they can show stay in Northern Ireland.· Thirdly, we have increased the number of firms eligible to move goods for processing in the animal feed, healthcare, construction and not-for-profit sectors. Inputs into food production will continue to benefit from inclusion in the 'not at risk' definition.The Windsor Framework also expands both the traders that can access the scheme, and the goods they can move, while codifying in legal text a unique arrangement in which UK public health and safety standards will apply for all retail food and drink in the UK internal market.For those in the scheme who can show that their goods will stay in Northern Ireland, we will provide a radically simplified process for goods movements, underpinned by the existing Trader Support Service, as we have set out.

Seeds: UK Internal Trade

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government why individuals in Northern Ireland buying vegetable and herb seeds for personal use direct from suppliers in Great Britain are requiredto have a Phytosanitary certificate costing upwards of £250.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Plants and seeds will be able to once again move easily within the UK. Plants will now move within the same plant passport regime as applies throughout the UK. As we put these arrangements into practice we will work closely with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure gardeners, farmers and growers can access plants and seeds from a wide variety of sources.

Department of Health and Social Care

Drugs: Advertising

Lord Strathcarron: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham on 21 March (HL5868),what steps they will take to uphold the provisions of Chapter 4 of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s Blue Guide, which sets out the general rules for advertising medicines to both healthcare workers and the public, and states there is a requirement not to exaggerate the benefits of medicines; and whether the reference in Chapter 4 to section 6.6 “for more information on safety claims” implies that the rules around the use of the word “safe” are applicable to advertising aimed at the general public.

Lord Markham: The Department is committed to following the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Blue book and Advertising Standards Agency guidelines. Careful consideration is given to what guidance is applicable to the campaigns that are run. Government campaigns to encourage routine vaccination uptake are considered as public health interventions and therefore sit outside the scope of United Kingdom advertising regulations, which are interpreted in the MHRA Blue Guide. Whether or not specific guidance applies, all campaign messaging is subject to rigorous clinical and policy approvals, to ensure information is communicated accurately.

Palantir: Databases

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the process for selecting a company to provide the NHS England data platform; and which other companies they considered bids from before awarding the service to Palantir.

Lord Markham: A procurement process for the ‘Provision of Data Management Platform Services’ was carried out by NHS England ahead of the contract award in December 2020, with a route to market evaluation identifying the G-Cloud 11 framework as the optimal route. In line with the G-Cloud process, selection criteria helped to identify 19 suppliers with potential solutions. A process of clarification and evaluation informed by subject matter experts (SMEs) against agreed functional, non-functional, and financial criteria was carried out. The identity of bidders is not made public as this information is commercially sensitive. The nine suppliers who met the minimum technical threshold were invited to give demonstrations in October 2020, following which they were evaluated against a set of criteria agreed by the SMEs. Palantir was subsequently selected as the preferred supplier based on receiving the highest score in the evaluation.

General Practitioners: Pharmacy

Baroness Cumberlege: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byLord Evans of Rainow on 20 March (HL Deb col 1529), what is the source of their data for saying that six percent of GP services could be provided by pharmacies; and what is the evidence base for those data.

Lord Markham: The source of the data that 6% of general practitioner (GP) services could be provided by pharmacies, as referenced by Lord Evans of Rainow on 20 March, is the report Making Time in General Practice, published by the Primary Care Foundation and NHS Alliance in October 2015. This research found that 5.5% of GP appointments were potentially avoidable by being directed instead to self-care/pharmacy. These findings were referenced in the later report General Practice Forward View, published by NHS England in April 2016. In this report the figure was rounded to 6%. Copies of both reports are attached.Making Time in General Practice report (pdf, 1371.8KB)General Practice Forward View report (pdf, 1819.5KB)

Integrated Care Boards: Palliative Care

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensurethat integrated care boards fulfil their obligations under the Health and Care Act 2022 to provide palliative care services to meet the needs of their population.

Lord Markham: NHS England has actively increased its support to local commissioners to improve the accessibility, quality and sustainability of palliative and end of life care for all. This has included the publication of statutory guidance and service specifications, with further resources available on the FutureNHS Collaboration Platform. Copies of these documents are attached. In addition, NHS England has funded the establishment of a palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Network in every NHS England region, which work closely with local commissioners regarding the development of accessible, high quality and sustainable services.Palliative and End of Life Care ICB guidance (pdf, 500.2KB)Child Palliative and End of Life Care ICB guidance (pdf, 372.0KB)

Hospices: Hospital Beds

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of hospice beds that have been lost due to shortfalls in the fundingthrough integrated care boards and where no alternative provisionhas been made by local NHS providers.

Lord Markham: No specific assessment has been made. Palliative and end of life care is commissioned at a local level by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications to support ICBs in commissioning a range of palliative and end of life services, including inpatient beds, that meet local needs and preferences. In addition, NHS England has funded the establishment of a palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Network in every NHS England region to work closely with local commissioners on the development of accessible, high quality and sustainable services.

Mental Health: Women

Baroness Thornton: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their Women’s Health Strategy for England, published on 30 August 2022, what steps they are taking to address the high rates of poor mental health amongst girls and young women.

Lord Markham: The NHS Long Term Plan commits an additional £2.3 billion a year for mental health services in England by 2023/24, supporting an additional two million people, including girls and young women, to get the National Health Service-funded mental health support that they need. We also continue to make progress on rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges, with 287 in place in over 4,700 schools and colleges across the country, offering support to children experiencing common mental health issues. The number of teams is expected shortly to have increased to 399. We know that girls and women are more likely to experience an eating disorder, so as part of the NHS Long Term Plan investment, we are putting an extra £1 billion into community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness by 2023/24. This will give 370,000 adults and older adults with severe mental illnesses, including eating disorders, greater choice and control over their care and will support them to live well in their communities. Since 2016, extra funding is going into children and young people's community eating disorder services every year, with £54 million per year from 2022/23. This extra funding will enhance the capacity of community eating disorder teams across the country. The NHS Long Term Plan also includes measures to improve safety, quality and continuity of care and a commitment for a further 24,000 women to be able to access specialist perinatal mental health care by 2023/24. This care will also be available from preconception to 24 months after birth, which will provide an extra year of support. This expansion includes 33 new Maternal Mental Health Services, which bring together psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women who have mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across England by March 2024. As outlined in the Women’s Health Strategy, women are one of our priority groups when promoting our Every Mind Matters resource, which includes content to support issues affecting women’s mental health, including life changes such as pregnancy.

Home Care Services: Drugs

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ask NHS England to undertake a review into the safety and reliability of homecare medicines services in England.

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made about the impact of delays, workforce shortages, and lack of e-prescribing systems, on the health and well-being of patients receiving homecare medicines services.

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will meet with the British Society for Rheumatology to discuss concerns about the safety and reliability of homecare medicines services in England.

Lord Markham: The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC), managed by and including representation from NHS England, and the National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA) have met with the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) to discuss their concerns about the safety and reliability of homecare medicines services, including delays in treatment. The NCHA have proposed to BSR that they will repurpose their bi-annual NCHA All Members Meeting to commence the wider discussion on the main areas of concern identified. The NCHA have reported that they intend to seek a broad base of stakeholder engagement at this event which will include NCHA full and associate members, the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry, NHMC members and BSR. This represents a high degree of commitment from the NCHA and NHMC to work actively with the BSR and other stakeholders to resolve the concerns and issues which have been raised. The BSR has written to the Department requesting a meeting and the Department will be responding to the BSR shortly. NHMC’s standardisation programme includes an NHS Digital strategy project. Within the NHMC there is a digital sub-group working closely with NHS Digital on the output-based specification for e-prescribing for homecare medicines services to use an Electronic Prescribing System. This work is at an advanced stage in preparation for consultation with NHMC during 2023. NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit, which manages four national framework agreements for the provision of homecare medicines services for Home Parenteral Nutrition, Lysosomal Storage Disorders, Pulmonary Hypertension and Clotting Factors, holds regular engagement meetings with providers on the framework and when appropriate will discuss recruitment and retention of staff. NHMC also holds discussions regarding recruitment, retention and vacancies during engagement meetings with providers when appropriate to do so.

Coronavirus: Immunosuppression

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham on 1 March (HL5824), which body will assume responsibility for ensuring that the immunocompromised will continue to be treated as a priority after the disbanding of the Antivirus and Therapeutics Taskforce, and its related programme and strategy boards.

Lord Markham: In line with the Government’s strategy of living with COVID-19, as of 31 March 2023 the Antiviral and Therapeutics Taskforce has been stood down. The treatment of COVID-19 patients will continue to be overseen by National Health Service and will operate in line with evidence-based recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, following the established processes in this area. The welfare of immunocompromised patients remains a priority, hence the enhanced protections we continue to offer, including the recently announced spring booster vaccinations, free lateral flow tests and guidance in addition to COVID-19 treatments.

Medicine: Higher Education

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of places available at UK universities to study medicine to match demand from applicants.

Lord Markham: The Government has funded an additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places per year for domestic students in England, which represents a 25% increase and takes the total number of medical school places in England to 7,500 each year. This expansion was completed in September 2020 and delivered five new medical schools in England. In addition, the Government temporarily lifted the cap on medical school places for students who completed A-Levels in 2020 and in 2021 and who had an offer from a university in England to study medicine, subject to their grades. As a result of this change, the intakes for 2020/21 and 2021/22 were 8,405 and 8,460 respectively, significantly above the planned cap of 7,500. NHS England has been commissioned to produce a Long Term Workforce Plan. The Government has committed to publishing the plan shortly, and this will include projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in five, 10 and 15 years’ time, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. The workforce plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce.

Treasury

Trade Barriers: Isle of Wight

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what information and paperwork need to be provided by a manufacturer, supplier or haulier in Southampton when transporting goods to the Isle of Wight, including goods forend use in the Isle of Wight.

Baroness Penn: Where a business moves goods from mainland Great Britain to the Isle of Wight, it will typically have to provide ordinary commercial information about what is being moved to the courier, haulier, and/or ferry company moving the goods, which could include, for example, a description of the goods and their destination.

Customs

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government whatwere the construction costs of each of the seven Inland Border Facilities; and for what purposes each of them have been used in the last year.

Baroness Penn: HMRC work to ensure all build costs associated with inland border facilities represent value for money. Under the bounds of the Public Procurement Regulations, HMRC undertake a stringent tender process within a competitive environment. The total construction cost for the six Inland Border Facilities developed by HMRC is £42 million. This is broken down as follows: Birmingham - £11 millionDover - £3 millionEbbsfleet - £4 millionNorth Weald - £3 millionWarrington - £9 millionHolyhead - £12 million Holyhead remains under construction. The costs detailed reflect the spend on the facility to 28 February 2023. The facilities act as a government office of departure and destination, where hauliers can start and end journeys under the Common Transit Convention. Sevington Inland Border Facility was constructed by the Department for Transport. The total costs were £154 million. It includes £70 million on the Border Control Post (BCP), which is capable of carrying out biosecurity checks on sanitary and phytosanitary goods (SPS).

Department for Business and Trade

Groceries Code Adjudicator

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timetable for the review of the role of the Grocery Code adjudicator; and how Parliament will be notified of the outcome.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The Government is currently considering responses to the public consultation and other evidence to inform the third statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator. A report on the findings of the statutory review will be published and laid before Parliament in due course.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Artificial Intelligence

Baroness Helic: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the letter published by the Future of Life Institute Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter, published on 29 March; andwhat steps they intend to take in response to the recommendation in that letter that there should be "shared safety protocols for AI" which are audited and overseen by independent outside experts".

Viscount Camrose: It is important that industry voices are actively engaged in the discourse around responsible AI. British based companies, like Deepmind, are at the forefront of responsible innovation. However, It should be noted that questions have been raised regarding the veracity of some of the signatures of the open letter on Artificial Intelligence published by the Future of Life Institute (FLI). Some of the researchers whose work was cited in the letter have also apparently raised concerns. It is also important to note that the letter is not expressly targeted towards the UK or any other government. Nevertheless,Government recognises the need to act to adapt the way in which we regulate AI as systems become more powerful, and are put to different use. As Sir Patrick Vallance highlighted in his recent regulatory review, there is a small window of opportunity to get this right and build a regulatory regime that enables innovation while addressing the risks. Government agrees that a collaborative approach is fundamental to addressing AI risk and supporting responsible AI development and use for the benefit of society. The AI Regulation White Paper we published on 29 March identifies “trustworthy”, “proportionate” and “collaborative” as key characteristics of the proposed AI regulation framework.The AI Regulation White Paper sets out principles for the responsible development of AI in the UK. These principles such as safety, fairness, and accountability are at the very heart of our approach to ensuring the responsible development and use of AI. We will also establish a central risk function to bring together cutting-edge knowledge from industry, regulators, academia and civil society – including skilled computer scientists with a deep technical understanding of AI - to monitor future risks and adapt our approach if necessary. This is aligned with the calls to action in FLI’s letter.In addition, our recently announced Foundation Model Taskforce has been established to strengthen UK capability - in a way that is aligned with the UK’s values - as this potentially transformative technology develops.The approach to AI regulation outlined in the AI regulation White Paper is also complemented by parallel work on AI Standards, supported by the AI Standards Hub launched in October 2022, and via the Centre for Data Ethics and Innvovation’s AI Assurance Roadmap, published in December 2021. In concert, our holistic approach to AI governance combining regulation with an approach to standards development and AI assurance is in line with efforts to develop shared safety protocols, and will at the same time allow the UK to benefit from AI technologies while protecting people and our fundamental values.

Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have received about the impact of the loss of the Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre following its sale.

Viscount Camrose: The decision to sell the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre was made by VMIC UK Ltd's Board of Directors. The facility was subsequently sold to Catalent. Once completed, it is intended that the facility will be capable of producing a range of therapeutics and vaccines. Officials regularly engage with industry stakeholders to understand the wider landscape and implications for vaccine development and manufacturing in the UK and will continue to do so.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Commonhold Council

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings of the Commonhold Council there have been since its formation; and how many scheduled meetings of the Council were cancelled.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Commonhold Council has met regularly since it was convened in 2021 and no meetings have been cancelled.

Liverpool Strategic Futures Panel

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government how theLiverpool Strategic Futures Panel is supported by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has appointed the Mayor of Liverpool Combined Authority, Steve Rotheram, to Chair the Liverpool Strategic Futures Advisory Panel, which is supported by Baroness Judith Blake and Sir Howard Bernstein. It will work with place leaders and stakeholders from across the city region. Officials at DLUHC are providing coordination and analytical support to the Panel during its evidence collection and diagnostic phase.

Leasehold: Reform

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make the leasehold enfranchisement process easier for residential leaseholders.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Government has committed to making enfranchisement cheaper for leaseholders by reforming the process of valuation they must follow to calculate the cost of extending their lease or buying their freehold. We will abolish marriage value, cap ground rents in the calculation, prescribe the rates to be used and introduce an online calculator.

Visas: British National (Overseas)

Lord Leong: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the barriers faced by people from Hong Kong who have come to the UK under the British National Overseas (BNO) visa taking up employment that requires a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: In April 2021, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) launched a new UK-wide Welcome Programme to support BN(O) status holders. In November 2022, DLUHC published a letter to BN(O)s and prospective employers on Certificates of No Criminal Conviction (CNCC) from the Hong Kong Police. The letter outlines a revised guidance on how to obtain a CNCC and gives sectoral examples on alternative methods when one cannot be obtained. This letter is available in English and Cantonese and is available on the GOV.UK landing page. We are working closely with FCDO officials to keep the guidance under review to help BN(O)s overcome the barriers they face when seeking employment.Letter on CNCC (pdf, 135.8KB)

Department for Education

Physical Education

The Earl of Effingham: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their response to the House of Lords National Plan for Sport and Recreation Committee's report, A national plan for sport, health, and wellbeing, where they notethe average time teaching PE in primary schools was 90 minutes per week in 2016, what plans they have to increase the average time spent teaching PE in (1) primary schools, and (2) secondary schools.

Baroness Barran: The government is prohibited by law in prescribing the exact time a school should allocate to individual subjects in the curriculum. On 8 March, the government made an announcement on physical education (PE) and school sport which included an expectation for both primary and secondary schools to strive for a minimum of two hours of PE and sport in the curriculum time every week.

Visas: British National (Overseas)

Lord Leong: To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are offering to people from Hong Kong who have come to the UK under the British National Overseas (BNO) visa to help them take up teaching positions.

Baroness Barran: From 1 February 2023, teachers who are already qualified and recognised as teachers in Hong Kong are able to apply to have their qualification recognised with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England, without additional training. This means that they can apply for teaching roles that require QTS.For those looking to train to teach in physics and languages, bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 are available, including to those with a British National (Overseas) visa.For those who are considering coming to England, we have introduced an international relocation payment worth up to £10,000 to help overseas physics and language teachers and trainees, including those from Hong Kong, to relocate.Schools looking to complete safeguarding checks in order to employ teachers from Hong Kong can currently provide assistance to these individuals with a letter which can be used to apply for a Certificate of No Criminal Conviction from the Hong Kong authorities. Our statutory guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education, also sets out alternative safeguarding processes that schools can follow. This can be found attached.HL7002_pdf (pdf, 1212.2KB)

Department for Transport

Public Transport: Key Workers

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make special public transport arrangements to enable key workers to travel to work in the event that theNational Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) pay negotiation collapses.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government welcomes the recent cancellation of strikes by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and the restart of discussions with the Rail Delivery Group on the fair and reasonable two-year pay offer. The Government recognises the serious disruption rail industrial action causes passengers. If there are any further rail strikes, operators will continue to strive to provide as many services as they can resource reliably within existing operational constraints. The Government has played its part in helping to facilitate and improve communication between the unions and the rail industry. Where necessary, Ministers will continue to facilitate open and constructive discussions to make progress and help the parties resolve the dispute.

High Speed 2 Line

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the current HS2 rolling stock will be leased or purchased; what loading gauge(s) it will be built to; and on which routes a train of greater gauge than W6 will be capable or operating.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: HS2 Ltd is purchasing the rolling stock from a Joint Venture of Hitachi and Alstom. The purchased HS2 rolling stock will be gauge-compatible with its operational routes.

Railways: Solar Power

Lord Naseby: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Swiss Federal Railways regarding its trial of laying solar panels in between railway tracks in order to generate electricity.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: Network Rail has had discussions with the Swiss Federal Railways and is aware of their strategic priorities, broadly aligning with its own. The proposed solar panel innovation is interesting, but an initial analysis suggests that the proposal underestimates the challenges of maintaining the solar panels in a dusty, vibrating environment. The business case has also not been proven, noting that the deployment of assets in a safety critical location is necessarily more expensive than using land away from the track. Finally, Network Rail is concerned that the installation would also conceal track fastenings making it more difficult to safely maintain the railway with Network Rail’s video track inspection system. Network Rail is aiming for 100 percent of its non-traction electricity to be from renewable sources by 2030 and has committed to seek to reduce the carbon footprint of traction electricity consumption by directly purchasing renewable electricity from specific new renewable projects. Network Rail is at an early stage in the process of reviewing options for feeding renewable electricity directly into the traction power supply. Through our First of a Kind scheme the Department for Transport has supported various projects looking at feeding renewable electricity into the railway. This includes providing £750,000 to Riding Sunbeams to develop and trial an innovative connection between renewable electricity generation and overhead electrification.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Oil: Poole

Baroness Boycott: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost to public bodies of the oil spill in Poole.

Lord Benyon: The Environment Agency (EA), Natural England (NE), Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) amongst others have been involved in responding to the oil spill in Poole Harbour. Public agencies will be monitoring their excess costs throughout the response and recovery operations following the oil spill. As these operations are on-going, final estimates are not available; however, when possible, costs will be recovered from the polluter.

Cats: Animal Welfare

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, what consideration they have given to the possibility of that legislation causing further welfare problems through the abandonment of cats caused by people being either (1) unwilling, or (2) unable, (a) to microchip, or (b) to pay fines.

Lord Benyon: The introduction of compulsory cat microchipping in England is intended to increase the likelihood that lost or stolen pet cats can be reunited with their keeper, benefitting cat welfare. The cost of microchipping is around £25. Cat keepers will have until 10 June 2024 to comply with the requirements before they come into force. If a keeper is served with a notice, they will have 21 days to microchip their cat and register their details with a compliant database to avoid any fines.

Cats and Dogs: Animal Welfare

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, what assessment they have made of the necessity of considering cats and dogs together for the purposes of that legislation given the lack of danger to the public caused by cats.

Lord Benyon: The introduction of compulsory cat microchipping in England is intended to increase the likelihood that lost or stolen pet cats can be reunited with their keeper, benefitting cat welfare. The extension of compulsory microchipping to pet cats was supported by 99% of respondents to the public consultation exercise.

Cats: Animal Welfare

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, what consideration they have given to the possibility of that legislation causing further welfare problems through the stress to cats caused by (1) trapping, (2) confinement, and (3) euthanasia.

Lord Benyon: Under the draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, only owned cats are required to be microchipped. The Regulations will not apply to free living cats that live with little or no human interaction or dependency, such as farm, feral or community cats.

Cats: Animal Welfare

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, what consideration they have given to providing exemptions for (1) older cats, (2) cats with long-term health issues, and (3) cats fitted with collar trackers.

Lord Benyon: The draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023 permit an exemption from the requirement to be microchipped where a veterinary surgeon certifies that the procedure should not be carried out for animal health reasons.

Cats: Animal Welfare

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government, further tothe draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, what consideration they have given to the issuessurrounding the data privacy of cat owners in relation to that legislation.

Lord Benyon: The draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023 will require cat keepers to register their details with a database operator which holds itself out as compliant with these Regulations. These operators are all commercial enterprises independent of Government and they have a duty to comply with data protection requirements.

Honey: Standards

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the authenticity of British honey, following the investigation by the European Commission's Anti-Fraud Office and the Joint Research Centrein which all British honey samples failed authenticity tests.

Lord Benyon: The UK Government takes any type of food fraud very seriously, including honey adulteration. Defra works closely with enforcement authorities, the Food Standards Agency, and the National Food Crime Unit to ensure honey sold in the UK is not subject to adulteration, meets our high standards and maintains a level playing field between honey producers. The UK welcomes the EU’s study assessing adulteration of honey with added sugars. There is no place for adulterated honey which undermines consumer confidence and disadvantages responsible businesses acting within the law. We are working closely with the Food Standards Agency to follow up on the small number of honey samples, exported via the UK, which were flagged as suspicious for adulteration with added sugars. We will need to await the outcome of these enquiries before drawing any definitive conclusions relating to the UK results. We will act immediately if we find any wrongdoing as part of the investigation Honey is a complex natural and variable product, meaning analysis can often be challenging. There are a range of different techniques available to ensure compliance with the Honey (England) Regulations 2015, which are like those in place in the EU. No single test can definitively determine a honey’s authenticity and a weight of evidence approach, including traceability investigation, is often needed regardless of the results of laboratory testing. We support the EU’s call for increased efforts and cooperation in developing harmonised methods for detecting added sugars in honey. The Government has an active programme of research dedicated to honey authenticity, working to support monitoring and enforcement and to protect consumers and legitimate businesses.

Ash Dieback Disease: Disease Control

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Benyon on 21 March (HL6421), howmany grants they made to private landowners for support with the costs described in (1) 2022, (2) 2021, (3) 2020, and (4) 2019.

Lord Benyon: The Government provides grants for private landowners, to help with costs associated with ecological surveys and felling roadside ash with ash dieback, through the Tree Health Grant Pilot. This scheme provides financial and technical support to facilitators to coordinate the removal of dangerous ash trees along roads and public paths for groups of landowners. Support covers the costs and administration of ecological surveys, felling licences, protected species licences (if needed) and road closure permissions, as well as restocking. Pilots are running in the North West, the South East, London and the West Midlands and landowners are eligible if they have ash with ash dieback along roads or paths. The pilot launched in August 2021 and the full scheme is expected to be launched Nationwide in 2025. The numbers of grants made under this pilot for ash dieback so far are:2022: 4 grants, totalling £157,846.54 Following this low uptake, Defra is working with the Forestry Commission and the Tree Council to review and improve the provision for ash with ash dieback along roads and paths. Defra has also brought together local authorities in the pilot areas to provide feedback on the ash offer and how it can be improved to better suit their needs. Following an independent evaluation report, which included several recommendations from local authorities, Defra has amended the ash offer and this improved offer will be launched across the pilot areas in April. Local authorities can also apply for funds to restore landscapes ecologically degraded by ash dieback and other pressures through the Local Authority Treescapes Fund (LATF), also launched in 2021. Although local authorities must lead applications to this fund, they are able to work with private landowners and other organisations to deliver recovery planting. Since 2021, over £15m has been awarded through this fund, although the number of private landowners receiving funding is determined by the local authorities administering funding, and Defra do not hold data on this. The grant is currently open for 2023 applications. The numbers of grants made to local authorities under LATF so far are:2021: 42 grants, totalling £8.5m2022: 35 grants, totalling £6.7m

Rights of Way

Baroness Scott of Needham Market: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 29 March (HL6810), whether they will provide additional funding for local highway authorities to address (1) the backlog of 4,000 applications for historic rights of way, and (2) the 41,000 miles of potentially unrecorded routes discovered by the Ramblers and its volunteers.

Baroness Scott of Needham Market: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 29 March (HL6810),what steps they are taking to ensure that the backlog of 4,000 applications for historic rights of way are assessed in a timely manner; and what discussions the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has had with the Department for Levelling-up, Housing and Communities about the funding required by local authorities to consider those applications.

Lord Benyon: The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, the majority of which is un-ringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities and allocate funding accordingly. The Government is committed to implementing the rights of way reforms package which will reduce bureaucracy and speed up the process for new rights of way to be added to the legal record for everyone to enjoy. The reforms will streamline processes for recording rights of way with landowners, local authorities and users benefitting from a faster, less expensive, less confrontational and less bureaucratic process. Local authorities will have powers to reject weakly evidenced applications, ignore irrelevant objections and agree appropriate modifications directly with landowners. Local authorities will have powers to correct obvious administrative errors on the definitive map via a significantly shortened process.

Fishing Vessels: Northern Ireland

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government whether fishing vessels from (1) Great Britain, and (2) Northern Ireland, landing fishing catches at Northern Ireland, will be treated as vessels from third countries following the provisions of the Windsor Framework.

Lord Benyon: There is no change to the requirements that apply regarding the landing of fish into ports in NI. Vessels should continue to operate in line with the status quo.

Ministry of Justice

Probate

Lord Blackwell: To ask His Majesty's Government what is theaverage time taken for His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to process probate applications.

Lord Blackwell: To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of probate applications to His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) exceed their target time of 16 weeks for processing.

Lord Bellamy: Despite record level of receipts in 2022 the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at 6 weeks.8.8% of Probate applications exceeded 16 weeks processing time following receipt of the documents required. Cases can be delayed where more information is needed from the applicant, an application to stop a case from an interested party is in place or where cases are complex.HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.Average waiting times for probate grants, up to December 2022, are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly.